LAST Friday's front page story about the frail 79-year-old woman, who allegedly had to wait several hours on a hospital trolley and a wheelchair before she was found a bed, is another example of a health service that's a suitable case for treatment.

Don't let's point the finger at the invariably overworked and

understaffed medical teams struggling to cope with ever-increasing demands on NHS resources. It's up to Health Secretary Frank Dobson to start putting his house in order by making sure that those in the medical front line have what they need to deliver the sort of fast, efficient and cost-effective care which makes agonising waits for treatment a thing of the past.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.